Democratic Party on Civil Rights

Party Platform

Enable disability access; plus 100,000 federal jobs

No one should face discrimination based on disability status. President Obama and the Democratic Party will continue to lead efforts to facilitate the access of Americans with disabilities to the middle class, employment opportunities,
and the ability to lead full, productive, and satisfying lives. The administration and the Democratic Party are committed to assisting the approximately 50 million people in this country living with disabilities, assuring their full integration
into society.

"Under President Obama, veterans have started to realize the promise of a square deal. PTSD is no longer a dirty word. More veterans are getting their benefits. More veterans are in college. More veterans have more options in finding good
with federal contractors. We are committed to expanding access to employment for people with disabilities and removing barriers to work.

Equal treatment under law for same-sex couples

We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples.
We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.

We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples.
We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.

Racial and religious profiling is wrong

Racial and religious profiling is wrong and we will work to stamp it out. Hate crimes desecrate sacred spaces and demean good people, and we support a strong national law to punish them.

Source: The Democratic Platform for America, p.36
, Jul 10, 2004

Keep marriage at state level; no federal gay marriage ban

We support full inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of our nation and seek equal responsibilities, benefits, and protections for these families. In our country, marriage has been defined at the state level for 200 years,
and we believe it should continue to be defined there. We repudiate President Bush’s divisive effort to politicize the Constitution by pursuing a “Federal Marriage Amendment.” Our goal is to bring Americans together, not drive them apart.

Source: The Democratic Platform for America, p.36
, Jul 10, 2004

Strengthen some parts of Patriot Act and change other parts

Guarding liberty. We must always remember that terrorists do not just target our lives; they target our way of life. And so we must be on constant guard not to sacrifice the freedom we are fighting to protect.
We will strengthen some provisions of the Patriot Act, like the restrictions on money laundering. And we will change the portions of the Patriot Act that threaten individual rights,
such as the library provisions, while still allowing government to take all needed steps to fight terror. Our government should never round up innocent people only because of their religion or ethnicity, and we should never stifle free expression.
We believe in an America where freedom is what we fight for - not what we give up.

Support affirmative action to redress discrimination

Our commitment to civil rights is ironclad. We will restore vigorous federal enforcement of our civil rights laws for all our people, from fair housing to equal employment opportunity, from Title IX to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
We support affirmative action to redress discrimination and to achieve the diversity from which all Americans benefit. We believe a day’s work is worth a day’s pay, and at a time when women still earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men,
we need stronger equal pay laws and stronger enforcement of them. We will enact the bipartisan legislation barring workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. We are committed to equal treatment of all service members and believe all patriotic
Americans should be allowed to serve our country without discrimination, persecution, or violence. We support the appointment of judges who will uphold our laws and constitutional rights, not their own narrow agendas.

Police should have zero tolerance of racial profiling

We need to end the unjust practice of racial profiling in America. It’s not only unfair, it is inconsistent with America’s community policing success, it is a violation of the basic American principle of innocent until proven guilty, it views
Americans as members of groups instead of as individuals, and it is just plain shoddy policing.

Pass hate crime legislation including gays

The very purpose of hate crimes is to dehumanize and stigmatize. Every crime is a danger to Americans’ lives and liberty. Hate crimes are more than assaults on people, they are assaults on the very idea of America. They should be punished with extra
force. Protections should include hate violence based on gender, disability or sexual orientation. And the Republican Congress should stop standing in the way of this pro-civil rights, anti-crime legislation.

Democrats lead fight for ERA and equal employment

We continue to lead the fight to end discrimination on the basis of race, gender, religion, age, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation. The Democratic Party has always supported the Equal Rights Amendment and will
continue to do so, and we are committed to vigorously enforcing the Americans with Disabilities Act. We support continuation of the White House initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. We will continue to work
toward a census that counts every American. We support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, to end workplace discrimination against gay men and lesbians. We support the full
inclusion of gay and lesbian families in the life of the nation. We will fight for full funding of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other civil rights enforcement agencies.